Although the current HD video standard (1920×1080 pixels) remains prevalent, in recent years, the 4K video standard (up to 4096×2160 pixels) has gained in popularity. The latest generation of media servers contain modern graphics processor units (GPUs) which are capable of outputting multiple streams of 4K video. Whilst the new generation of monitors and projectors are increasingly capable of displaying 4K video, and the uptake of 4K video in conventional video streaming sites (for example, YouTube, Vimeo and Netflix) has also increased in the last few years, the dominant standard in the video and media industry remains the current HD video standard. In particular, many professional users in the industry have not incurred the expense of substituting their HD output systems (e.g. displays and projectors) with those capable of supporting the 4K video standard.
It is to be noted that although the industry retains a lot of HD projection and signal transmission/switching gear, this is not because 4K is inherently difficult to transmit, but because of the large investments that have been made to date.
In the years to come, the 4K video standard will likely experience a huge increase in popularity and it will become necessary for consumers and for the video industry as a whole to upgrade their systems in order to be compatible with 4K video. In the move from HD to 4K, they would need to reinvest in media servers/players.
However, in the meantime, there are problems associated with the implementation of 4K standards in the video industry, particularly in relation to difficulties associated with transmitting 4K video signals over long distances (more than 2-3 m) using conventional means. Therefore, despite the promise of higher resolution compared to conventional HD video, 4K video has not been readily taken up across the video industry.
Many users have therefore retained their HD-compatible systems, and have not yet invested in 4K-compatible technologies; 4K systems are not necessarily back-compatible and do not easily support transmission and display of the lower-resolution HD signals via the conventional hardware already owned by many users.
However, in the long-term, the retention of HD-compatible systems may not be particularly cost effective. Furthermore, some users may effectively end up paying twice—first to invest in the most up-to-date HD-compatible systems and then within a few years when 4K standards become more widely used, users will need to upgrade their HD systems to 4K-compatible systems.
Although the current HD video standard (1920×1080 pixels) remains prevalent, in recent years, the 4K video standard (up to 4096×2160 pixels) has gained in popularity. The latest generation of media servers contain modern graphics processor units (GPUs) which are capable of outputting multiple streams of 4K video. Whilst the new generation of monitors and projectors are increasingly capable of displaying 4K video, and the uptake of 4K video in conventional video streaming sites (for example, YouTube, Vimeo and Netflix) has also increased in the last few years, the dominant standard in the video and media industry remains the current HD video standard. In particular, many professional users in the industry have not incurred the expense of substituting their HD output systems (e.g. displays and projectors) with those capable of supporting the 4K video standard.
As a result, there is a mismatch between the capabilities of the GPUs built into media servers (capable of 4K) and the downstream video distribution and projection systems (capable of HD). This results in underuse of the GPU's capabilities, with each of its 4K-capable outputs serving only HD resolution, one-quarter of its actual capacity.
As both the GPU industry and the live video industries evolve on different timetables, this mismatch is expected to continue, as the GPU industry graduates to 8K resolutions while the video industries graduate to 4K.
For this reason, the industry has spawned technologies designed to interface between the 4K output capabilities of GPUs, and the HD signal distribution and display equipment that the industry retains.
Such technologies are typically implemented as stand-alone processing devices that receive a high-resolution video stream from the GPU, and break it up into multiple lower-resolution streams for transmission to video devices.
However, this creates a significant burden on the operators of this equipment, in terms of cost, complexity, equipment volume, reliability, setup time and management overhead.
It is against this background that the present invention has been devised.